FREMONT -- Three San Jose residents were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, conspiracy and assault with a deadly weapon after they teamed to "beat up" an ex-girlfriend of one of the men, police said Friday.

Alleged ringleader Paul Fagundes, 40, along with his accomplices Nicole Garcia, 20, and Juvenal Corvelo, 38, were arrested by Fremont police Wednesday night and subsequently admitted to their involvement in a convoluted quarrel that led to the stabbing of a 34-year-old Fremont woman, who was the Fagundes' former girlfriend, according to Fremont police.

On July 13 around 9:45 p.m., Fremont officers responded to a stabbing at a home on the 37000 block of Fremont Boulevard. When officers arrived, children who were in the home told police they called them after a woman knocked on the front door and stabbed their mother in the stomach.

The mother, who has not been identified, told officers she slammed the suspect's hand with the door, causing the woman to drop a 3-inch folding knife inside the home, police said. Though the woman did not know her attacker, she said she believed she was in cahoots with Fagundes, a former boyfriend.

Officers were able to get video from a camera on Central Avenue, which was near the woman's home, and were able to identify a car registered to Corvelo that was seen driving repeatedly near the home just before the stabbing. Corvelo, who is a friend of Fagundes as well as his business partner, is also friends with Garcia, who had distinctive tattoos and glasses that matched the description officers were given of the stabbing suspect. Investigators also learned Garcia was known to carry the exact type of knife found at the crime scene, thanks to notes made in a previous case with San Jose police.

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After the Fremont woman identified Garcia in a photo line up, Corvelo, Garcia and Fagundes were arrested.

During interviews, police said the trio admitted to their crime. Fagundes allegedly told Corvelo he wanted his former girlfriend "beat up" and that he would pay to have the job done, so Corvelo enlisted Garcia's help, according to police.